Exhibition bench



Filed July 27,` 1928 INVENTOR BYZM/fA/lmm ad l m/Mds ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 9, 1930 ,Unirse rsra-"Sres PATENT orrifce AUGUST HAnTMnNN, or MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, nssrerion To ennemies PATENT, AMnRICaLrMImED, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A oonrona'rron on GREAT Bn-ITMN EXHIBETION BENCH Application led July 27, 1928.

which is of simple, rugged construction and which may be readily set up and dismantled,

the parts being capable of shipment in knockdown condition without being crated.

Exhibition benches and similar equipment used in animal shows are ordinarily not owned by the association or individual promoting the show but are suppliedbythe manufacturer who rents the material and sends his nien to set it up in condition for use. At

'-5, the conclusion ofthe show, the benches yare dismantled and returnedto the factory or sent tothe city where the next show is to be held. As considerable equipment' is required for a show and this equipment is subject toy much handling and shipping, it should be of heavy rugged construction and of few parts.'

Heretofore, the benches commonly used have included floor boards which are seton low wooden horses to lie a few inches above n the floor of the exhibition room. These floor boards are wide enough for two rows of stalls or compartments separated by a bach-board of suitable height, the stalls of each row being commonly defined by wire gratings which engage the back-board and have portions which pass through openings in the lioor boards near the outer edges. The bench is then completed by a narrow slrirting board along each outer edge of the floor boards in front of the gratings. As the back-board, vslrirting boards, and gratings rest somewhat loosely in place, it has been thewpractice to make thev structure more rigid by using hook bolts which are passed through openings in the skirt-ing boards, engaged with portions of the gratings, and then drawn tight to hold the gratings and skirting boards together. The gratings on opposite sides of the back-board then hold it in place and a reasonably rigid structure 1s' secured.

This construction, however, is open to numerous objectionsthe principal ones being that much labor is involved in setting up the bench and setting andtightening the bolts. Lilsothe bolts are small and easily lost and serial No. 295,634.

such loss not only represents a considerable item of expense for the bolts, but also may involve expensive delays while others are being procured. This objection is of great importance when itis considered that the size of the compartments on a bench and therefore the number of gratings used varies at the dif-A ferent shows and with the different types of animals to occupy the compartments, so that there inust be kept on hand more gratings and bolts than are ordinarily in actual use to take care of emergencies. `These additional bolts are also subject toloss and eachtimethe equipment is shipped, the necessary bolts must be boxed and ysent along with it.

This inventionfis accordingly directed to the ,provision of an exhibition bench of the type described which includes no bolts or fastening devices of that type, but is so constructed that the several,partsinterlock to produce a rigidrstructure. rl`his structurey is flexible in the respect that the width of the compartments may be varied as desired by the use of a greater or less number of gratings, rlhe new bench includes no lsmall parts which are likely to be lost in setting up, dismantling or shipping the equipment, and the labor charge forl setting up and taking down the new bench are much lower than are incurred with a bench ofthe style heretofore in general use.

The new bench includes floor boards to be set 0n horses, a bacleboard, skirting boards, and aplurality of partitions, preferably in the form of gratings. The floor boards are provided with a row of apertures a. short distance apart along each outer edge, and there .are two such rows of apertures along the middle of the floor structure spaced apart so that the back-board may stand between these rows. Each grating is provided with a hoolr which extends over the top of the back-board, and with downward projections, one of which enters an aperture in one edge row in the floor. The skirting boa-rds provided are of substantially greater thickness than those heretofore employed so that each board may stand solidly on edge, and each skirting board has apertures through it ywhich may be placed in registry with those in the edge of the floor boards.V

Y Y With this arrangement, the skirting boards are placed in position before the gratings are Y set, Yand the projection at the forward edge of each grating is then passed throughk n aligned apertures lin the skirting board and the Hoor board.'v When thus placed, the graty ings are held rigidl rin position and hold the back-board and skirting boards firmly and this result is accomplished without the use of bolts or 'other similar fasteninv devices As will be apparent, they assemb ingV and disy i mantlingof/the benches so constructed lis ay simple'y matter, requring little labor, and there are no parts subject to loss. f f For a better understanding of the invention, reference'may be made to the accompanying drawings,*in which f Fig. 1 is a view of the assembled bench in side elevation; c v

Fig( 2 Yis a plan view thereof; Figf is a transversewsectional view showing .one grating in place, and

'l Fig. 4 is a view of certain of the parts t0.

illustrate thenanner of assembling them.

Referring now tothe drawings, the Ybench isr shown Yas including a floor 10,` which is supported on wooden horses 11, preferably collapsible so that they can be shipped flat.

' This floor is ordinarilymade' up of a pluralf stands on edge along the middle line of the stand on edge between the rows.

, The top rod 14 of each grating floorY and runs from one endy of the benchto the other. The compartments ou each side of the'back-board are defined by wire gratings 13, eacligrating preferably consisting of a Ybent rod 14, forming the topand front edge of the grating, astraight back rod 15 and a ybottom rod 16,'the square defined by thesey rods bei-ng completed by woven .wire of the usual construction. vFormed in the fioor. .boards along the median line are two rows of apertures 17 ,the apertures in each` row being y spaced apart any desired distance, for instance 5 inches, and the rows spaced a suiiicient vdistance to'permit the back-board 12 to terminates at the rear ina hook 18 which' may be placed to extend over the top of the back-board and downwardly along its opposite face a' short distance. The rear rod 15 of veach grating has a'projection 19 which is adapted to pass Vthrough an aperture in one of the rows 17. i

Alongeach outer edge of the flooris a row f ofapertures 20 in alignment with lthe apertures in the row 17 and spaced apart a similar distance. In the apertures of these outerV rows are received the projecting ends 210iI the Ytop ,and front rods 14 of the gratings.Y

The bench is completed by means of 'skirt- `ing boards 22which are to be placed on the ioor along each outer edge. VHeretofore these sk irting boards khave been of lrelatively snght thickness Vand they have been held in place by havin bolts inserted through openings through-t em, each bolt having a hook c ing boards 22 are madeof increased'width and each board is drilled from top to bottom 1 ,end to; be engaged with a part of each gratlng. In the present construction the skirtas at 23 to form a plurality of apertures'of they rows 20. The projecting end21of each grating may then be introduced throughk a e,

hole 23 and into the corresponding hole 2O in the-floor, and when the gratings are thus placed, they. are held yfirmly in position` and at the ysame time hold the skirting boards and back-'board against displacement.

To provide a projection 21 of the desired length, y1t will be` observed that the bottom rod `16'has an offset portion 24 which ex- Y tends parallel to the vertical 'part of the frontQrod and engages this part of the rod ata distance' from the yend of the projection 21. The length of the projection is suiiicient to pass through the skirting boardand the Hoor board. t f

In setting up the new bench, the horses are irst placed, thenl the floor board .is placedin position and its sections opened so as to provide a floor of the ordinary width. The back-board is then laid fiat on one section of the floor and the skirting '1,

board placed in upright position along the opposite Vedge of the fioorwith 'the holes in the skirting board registering with those in the fioor.

One workman now raises the back-'board to the desired upright position and holds 1t there, while another inserts the gratings in place. Each grating is raised above the floor and placed close enough totheback-board so that its hook 18 may pass'over the topy of theback-board. Then the grating is lowered so that the projection' 19 enters one of the holes 17- andthe forward projection 21 passes through the aligned openings in the'skirt-V ing b oard and the Hoor board. This operation 1s repeated with each grating in `that row and after a few such gratings have been placed, Vthe back-board need no longerv be n heldy in position, andthe workman who has beenholding it can proceed to put gratingsin place on the'opposite side from that where ygratings have been installed. W hen' i all of the gratings are in place, the 'backboard is lheld firmly in position between the rear upright rods of the gratings'in the two rows and each skirting board is held in place by the projections 2l of a plurality of gratings.

It' will be observed that with this bench no bolts are required and no similar small fastening means, which are readily lost or mislaid are used. The bench may bey assembled in a few minutes without difficulty and as quickly taken down. The labor cost for installing the kbenches necessary for a large show is, therefore, relatively unimportant and the owner of the benches incurs no loss by reason of the loss of bolts and similar parts. When the bench is dismantled, the horses, floor board, back-board, skirting boards, and gratings may be shipped without crating and these parts are not subject to damage since they may be made of strong construction. By forming the iioor and skirting boards with a plurality of apertures in each row spaced apart a short distance, the gratings may be placed to form compartments 'of any suitable or desired width according to the'use to which the bench is to be put. The bench, therefore, is flexible in use, consists of only a few simple inexpensive parts, shipping charges for transporting it are low and the labor cost for assembling it and dismantling it are much less than those incurred in connection with benches of the construction heretofore employed.

What I claim is:

l. An exhibition bench comprising a iioor, a back-board resting on the floor at a distance from one edge thereof, a skirting board resting on the floor along said edge, and partition means to subdivide the floor into a row of exhibition spaces, these partition means having portions engaging the back-board and other portions passing through the skirting board and entering the iioor.

2. An exhibition bench comprising a floor having a row of apertures adjacent each edge, and a pair of rows of apertures on each side of the median line of the floor, a back-board resting on the iioor between the rows of apertures spaced inwardly from the edges of the floor, skirting boards resting on the floor, one along each edge, each skirting board having a plurality of apertures adapted to be placed inregistry with the floor apertures near each edge of the floor, and a plurality of partitions disposed on each side of the back-board on the floor, each partition having a part engaging the backboard, and having spaced projections, one projection being insertable into a selected aperture of a row near the back-board, and the other aperture being insertable through a corresponding aperture in the skirting board and into the aperture in the ioor in registry therewith.

3. An exhibition bench comprising a floor, a skirting board resting on the iioorL along one edge, and a grating mounted on the floor to extend at an angle to the skirting board, this grating having a part passing through the skirting board to hold it against displacement.

4L. An exhibition bench comprising a floor having a plurality of apertures along one edge, a skirting board resting on the floor along said edge and having a plurality of apertures adapted to be placed in registry with those in the iioor, and a grating adapted to be placed upright on the floor at an angle to said edge, thisgrating having a part insertable through any selected aperture in the skirting board and the registering aperture in the floor.

5. An exhibition bench comprising a floor having a plurality of apertures along one edge, a back-board resting on the floor at a distance from this edge, a skirting board resting on the floor along said edge and having a plurality of apertures adapted to be placed in registry with those in the floor, and a grating adapted to be placed upright in the floor at an angle to said edge, this grating having a part insertable through any selected aperture inV the skirting board and the registering aperture in the oor and also having a part engaging the back-board to hold it from displacement froni upright position.

6. A grating for use as a partition on an exhibition bench which comprises a bottom rod, a rear upright rod and a front upright rod, said upright rods extending beyond the bottom rod which is connected thereto, and the bottom rod having a. portion extending parallel to and spaced from the front rod to provide a projecting portion thereof of increased length.

7. A grating for use as a partition on an exhibition bench which comprises a substantially rectangular frame made up of metal rods with its center closed with woven wire, the said rods of the frame projecting beyond the bottom rod and the bottom rod having a portion extending parallel to one of said side rods and connected thereto at a point offset from the main portion of said bottom rod to provide a projecting portion on this side rod of substantial length.

8. An exhibition bench comprising a floor, a back-board resting on the licor at a. distance from one edge thereof, a skirting board resting on the floor along said edge, and a partition mounted on the floor and provided with means for holding the back-board against displacement, this partition having an extension from its front edge passing through the skirting board and into the floor.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

AUGUST HARTMANN. 

